Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales is a short series based on Cars, featuring Mater (who's now the titular protagonist) and Lightning McQueen (who's now the deuteragonist). The show airs on Disney Channel, Disney XD, ABC Family, and one was even shown in theaters. Its first broadcast was on October 27, 2008 and still airs new episodes.
Plot
All of the episodes follow the same tall tale sequence: Mater tells a story of something that he has done in the past.
In the story, Mater finds himself in an inescapable predicament.
When Lightning questions Mater over whether the events in the story actually occurred, Mater always claimed that Lightning was also involved, often saying, "you was there, too" (or some other variation). Then, Mater continues to tell the story, including Lightning's sudden participation.
The episodes end with Mater leaving the scene, often followed by characters or references to the story that was being told, suggesting that the story might be real.
Episodes
Season 1 (2008)
Season 2 (2009 - 2010)
Season 3 (2011 - present)
Unused Episodes
- Runway Mater
- Stunt Mater
- Backwards to the Forwards
- Mater Goes to the Car-Nival
- Import Mater
Production
Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Wallis, Guido Quaroni, Lindsey Collins, and Elissa Knight reprise their voice roles from the films. Owen Wilson did not return to voice Lightning McQueen, who is replaced by voice actor Keith Ferguson in all episodes. Though Nathan Stanton claims that Lloyd Sherr, who voiced Fillmore in Cars 2, replaced the late George Carlin in the series[1], Carlin is credited at the end of several Cars Toons.
Future
- Untitled Cars Toon episode
According to an UK TV guide website, there could be a new episode on 16th July 2012. And according to an online catalogue from Disney Publishing Worldwide, "new racing-themed toons" will be released in 2013.[2]
Merchandise
Toys
It was announced that Cars Toons were to be released as part of the Disney·Pixar Cars Die-Cast Line, in mid-2009. Die-casts have been released for all episodes of season 1. They have produced die-casts for all of season 2's shorts except for Mater Private Eye. The only Cars Toon that haven't diecast models is Time Travel Mater. Mater Private Eye and Air Mater's first diecasts models are just created[1]
Video game
A video game based on the TV short was released in October 2010 for the Wii and PC.
Release
On November 2, 2010 the first 7 Cars Toons episodes, plus the next 2 episodes exclusively, were released on DVD and Blu-ray, the same day on which Toy Story 3 was released on DVD and Blu-ray. With the exception of Mater the Greater, which is played first in the collection, the episodes have corresponding opening sequences of Mater appearing and saying "If I'm lyin', I'm cryin'" in different ways.
The Cars Toon Air Mater, was released with the DVD and Blu-ray release of Cars 2.